1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air curtain system used in manufacturing a thin film transistor-liquid crystal display ("TFT-LCD"), and more particularly, to an air curtain system for constantly spraying air or N.sub.2 gas on an LCD substrate to remove a solution remaining after such solution is used for removing a photoresist, the photoresist being used for patterning an electrode of the LCD.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 illustrates, in cross-section view, a portion of a glass substrate as it undergoes sequential processing steps for forming an electrode such as an indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode thereon.
An electrode-forming layer 102 is first deposited on a glass substrate 101, after which the glass substrate 101 is cleaned using a cleaning solution. Next, a photoresist 103 is deposited on the electrode-forming layer 102, and exposed to a light using a photo mask 104 to obtain a desirably patterned photoresist 103a through a developing process.
Following the above steps, the electrode forming layer 102 is etched using the patterned photoresist 103a as a mask, then the patterned photoresist 103a is removed through a stripping process, thereby obtaining a desirably patterned electrode 112.
In the stripping process, a photoresist may remain on the glass substrate 101 and the patterned electrode 112, and is removed using a stripping solution which is sprayed at a high pressure on the glass substrate 101.
After this step, to clean away the stripping solution, the substrate 101 is conveyed to an air curtain system.
FIGS. 2 and 3 show a conventional air curtain system.
An air curtain system 105 includes a front plate 105a and a rear plate 105b, between which a space 109 is defined. A slit 108 having a clearance of 0.1 mm extends downward from the space 109. Two air suppliers 110 for supplying air to the space 109 are symetrically mounted on the front plate 105a. An air tube 107 is connected to the air supplier 110. The air or N.sub.2 gas is supplied from the air tube 107 to the space 109 through a passage 106 formed in the air supplier 110. The air supplied to the space 109 is sprayed on the substrate 101 through the slit 108 in order to remove the remaining stripping solution.
At this point, the air sprayed through the slit 108 further functions as a curtain for blocking fumes which are generated during processing of a downstream substrate.
However, as shown in FIG. 3, since the air on N.sub.2 gas supplied from the two air suppliers 108 is sprayed directly toward the substrate through the slit 108 without any obstruction, the air pressure difference may occur between three portions of the slit 108 corresponding to regions R1, R2 and R3, respectively. Therefore, the air curtain system having the structure described above has a drawback in that, since the air pressure is not uniform throughout the slit 108, the stripping solution remaining may not be completely removed. In addition, if the air pressure is increased to completely remove the remaining stripping solution, the substrate and the electrode may be damaged.